Time controlled valve closing mechanism



July 26, 1955 A. M. BLOOM 2,713,900

TIME CONTROLLED VALVE CLOSING MECHANISM Filed April 25, 1952 Q li "lllll'uh' La 77a' vena?, Lza/Zooz.

United States Patent() TIME CDNTROLLED VALVE CLOSING MECHANISM Abe M. Bloom, Van Nuys, Calif. Application April 25, 1952, Serial No. 284,291 3 Claims. (Cl. 161-7) This invention relates to improvements in a time conj trolled valve closing mechanism.

More specifically the present invention pertains to a device applicable to valves which when allowed to do so automatically close themselves, which can be set so that, after the lapse of a predetermined length of time, means holding the valve associated therewith will be released so that the valve will be maintained in an open condition until the delivery of the amount of iiuid, flow of which is controlled by such valve.

An object of the present invention is to provide a much more simpler and cheaper time controlled valve release mechanism which can be readily attached to conventional timers already on the market.

Another object is to provide for a valve of the selfclosing type having a projecting valve stem which is depressible against a spring in the valve casing to open the valve; an improved assembly of timer operable parts wherein, a reciprocable member axially connected to said valve and which has been moved to a latched position wherein it depresses said valve and holds it open, is automatically released through the medium of mechanism having a trigger-like action after the elapse of a period of time predetermined by a pre-setting of the timer, so that, when released, the valves spring will automatically move said valve to its closing position.

The present invention specifically embodies a combination of elements having a new mode of operation, some of which are new and some of which are old, new results being achieved in the more positive action provided by the cooperation of the new trigger acting mechanism intervening between the time controlled mechanism and the valve closing mechanism, and in the further reduction in the size and strength of such parts as a result of their operational accomplishments.

Other objects, advantages and features of invention will hereinafter appear.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, illustrating a preferred, reduced to practice, embodiment of the invention,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of the complete device attached to a valve which controls the flow of water from a source of supply to a place of use, a portion of the casing wall being broken away to disclose interior construction. In this view the valve is shown in its normal closed position.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged, fragmentary rear elevational view of the structure shown in Fig. l, the casing enclosing plate having been removed to disclose interior working parts. A dottedly indicated setting operation of one of the movable parts is fragmentarily shown.

Fig. 3 is a fuller reproduction of the structure shown in Fig. 2 with the working parts set in their operative position. j

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical section on zig-zag line 4 4 of Fig. 3.

Referring in detail to the drawing, therein is shown a rectangularly shaped casing or housing 5, for enclosing and supporting the working parts of the invention hereinafter described, the single open side of which is provided with a closure plate 6.

A conventional valve casing 7 has an externally screwthreaded portion 8 extending through an opening in the door portion 10 of the casing 5, said screwthreaded part being secured to said iloor portion by means of a lock nut 12.

From Fig. 3 it will be seen that the conventional valve casing 7 is provided with a valve member 14 normally held to its seat by means of a compression spring 15. Said valve member 14 has secured to it a reciprocable operating stem 16 extending through an opening 17 in a partition 18, said partition extending in a generally horizontal direction, but being of the stepped type shown, so that pipes screwed into the inlet and outlet ends of the valve can occupy substantially the same horizontal plane.

The valve operating stem 16 is round in cross section and of least diameter where it is connected to the valve member 14 and extends through the opening 17 in the partition 18, but is increasingly stepped up in diameter at 19 where it extends, in a leak-proof manner, through and beyond the screwthreaded portion 8 and at 20 where it extends through and beyond the easing wall and has connected to it the cylindrically shaped operating handle 21.

A stop pin 22 extends diametrically through the steppedup section 19 of the operating stem 16 and is adapted to engage the end of the threaded portion 8 to limit the downward movement of the valve member 14 against the opposition of the spring 15, and the stepped-up section 20 of said operating stem has one end of a laterally projecting pin 23 secured therein, said pin 23 being at times adapted to be engaged by latching means 24 to hold the operating stem 16 depressed until automatically released at the end of a predetermined time set period.

The latching means 24 comprises an elongated platelike part having the end thereof which is opposite the hook-carrying end pivotally connected by a pivot pin 25 to one leg of a right angular bracket 26 to swing through a limited arc to and from a co-operative relationship with the pin 23, the other leg of said bracket being welded to the adjacent wall of the casing.

In the mounted position of the latching means, the hook portion thereof faces pin 23 and has two operative relationships therewith. One as dottedly indicated in Fig. 2 and the other as shown in full lines in Fig. 3.

Latching means 24 carries a laterally projecting guide pin 28 having a loose working t in an elongated guide slot 29 of the operating arm 30, said arm functioning to move the hooked member through its limited arc movement from full line position to the dotted line indication shown in Fig. 2. A spring 31 yieldably connects the guide pin 28 to the operating arm 30. Accordingly, if operating arm 30 is moved in a direction to advance the latching means from the full line to dotted line indication as stated, the hooked member forming the principal element of the latching means will be simultaneously advanced through the medium of the spring 31 until the rounded nose portion 32 of the hooked end of the latching means 24 abuts the lower periphery of the pin 23. Further movement of the operating arm 30 in the same indicated direction is, however, not obstructed since such further movement elongates the spring setting up tension therein so that then the operating'handle is subsequently depressed causing the pin 23 to ride over the nose portion 32 of the latch, the energy stored up in the spring will automatically move the hooked end of the latching member to the position shown in Fig. 3 and as a result will cause the operating stem 16 to hold the valve 14 open until a predetermined time set period has elapsed which will be more fully explained later.

The end of the operating arm 30 which is opposite to its slotted end is operatively connected in a pivotal manner to the lever 33 of a conventional time mechanism 34, which includes the rotatable cam disk 35 with the cam notch 36, the pin 37 carried by the lever 33, the pivot 38 whereto is swingably connected the lever 33, and the tension spring 39 to cause the pin 37 to graze the periphery of the cam disk during the operation of the timer and to cause the same to enter the cam slot when the set time for the rotation of the cam disk has expired.

In Fig. 3 it will be noted that when the hook of the latching means 24 is in its pin engaging position that the guide pin 28 is in a spaced relation to the striking end of the slot 29 which subsequently strikes against said guide pin to de-seat the hook at the time the pin 37 enters the slot 36, a portion of the pins securing nut 28a being broken away to illustrate this relationship. This construction is an important feature of the device since it provides a trigger-like action of the bridge end of the slot against the guide pin 28 thereby making the unlatching action more positive with less strength and size of spring involved. At the same time any energy overload stored up in the spring 31 other than that necessary to perform the aforesaid automatic action of latching down the operating stem of the valve can be utilized to augment the striker action produced by the spring 39.

In Fig. l is shown the timer dial 4t? and the operating knob 41 which carries the indicating finger 42 adapted to register with the dial indications. Said knob 41 is connected to a shaft 43 (Fig. 4) which in turn is connected to the timer disk 35 and manually rotating said knob will cause the cam disk 35 to move the pin 37 from its seat in the disk to a grazing relation with the disks periphery, thereby placing the necessary tension in the spring 39 to effect the trigger-like striking action of the shouldered end of the guide slot against the guide pin as previously explained.

Referring to certain minor details of construction, a gasket 44 is provided between the closure plate 6 and the open side of the housing to insure a more moisture proof condition within the housing. Screws 45 are provided to secure the closure 6 in place, and supports 46 are carried by the housing containing screw holes 47 wherein to tap said screws. Specifically the guide pin 2S comprises a screw bolt onto which is screwed the nut 28a after the pin has been assembled in its slot.

In Fig. l it will be noted that the manually operable knob and indicator 41, 42 registers with "0 on the top of the dial and that the numbers on the dial 40 progressively increase clockwise from 0 to 60.

To operate the device turn knob indicator to the time desired on the dial for the timer to remain in operation. Turning knob 41 in a clockwise direction, as shown in Fig. l, causes pin 37 to move outwardly along the cam slot in the disk 35 until it overrides the shoulder thereof and attains a position on the disks periphery. As the pin 37 is caused to move in its slot it in turn moves lever 33 to the left as viewed in Fig. 2, lever 33, in turn, moving leftward the arm 3Q. As the arm 30 moves leftward the spring 31 attached thereto simultaneously moves leftward unrestrainingly the hooked member or latching means 24 until the nose end of the hook abuts the pin 23, as dottedly indicated in Fig. 2, in which position it is restrained from further movement until the plunger 16 is depressed. Further leftward movement of the arm 3f?, while the latching means remains passive, elongates the spring 31 placing tension therein to automatically cause the latching means to engage the latching element after the handle 21 has been depressed to open the valve 14.

During the depressing of the handle 21 the pin 23 moves over the rounded nose end portion of the hook slightly retracting same from the dotted line indication to full line indication, as shown in Fig. 2, until the pin frees itself from the nose end whence the hook portion of the hooked member moves leftward over the top of the pin 23, as a result of the energy stored up in the spring, and assumes the holddown position of the valve 14 as shown in Fig. 3. During this operation it is obvious as the lever 33 is moved leftward energy is also stored up in the spring 39 which is utilized to move the pin 37 in a rightward direction at the expiration of the time the timer was set to operate as a result of moving the pointer clockwise on the dial. When the timer starts ticking off the time the pointer has been set to, in order to, as for example, complete a sprinkling operation, the disk 35 moves in the opposite direction or counter-clockwise until the pin 37 enters the cam slot under the urge of the spring 39.

As the pin 37 enters the disks cam slot under the urge of the spring 39, the arm 30 is also free to be moved rightward under the same influence and since there is momentarily no obstruction in the path of the arm 30, due to the gap between the pin 28 and shouldered end of the slot 29, as shown in Fig. 3, the rightward movement of the arm 30 is increased so that when the shouldered end of the slot reaches the pin, a trigger-like striking action is effected causing the hooked end of the hooked member to become de-seated from its holddown relation with the pin 23 thereby allowing the spring 15 to automatically function to close the valve 14.

l claim:

l. In a device of the character described: a reciprocable member to be controlled; means yieldingly urging said reciprocable member in one direction; a control member movable transversely of the reciprocable member; a movable striker; a timer mechanism for suddenly moving said striker from a retracted position to a forward position; a pin and slot connection between the control member and said striker; resilient means carried by the striker for urging said control member toward a limiting engaging position with respect to said striker; first and second latch elements carried by the control member and the reciprocable member respectively; said first latch element, when said striker is in said retracted position, and said control member in said limiting position being in the path of movement of said second latch element; said latch elements having engageable cam means operable upon movement of said reciprocable member in the other direction and when said striker is in said retracted position to move said first latch element out of the path of movement of said second latch element against the force of said resilient means to permit said latch elements to be engaged; said resilient means urging said first latch element into latching relationship with said second latch element; said latch elements, when engaged, and when said striker is in said retracted position, preventing movement of said control member to said limiting engaging position.

2. ln a device of the character described: a reciprocable member to be controlled; means yieldingly urging said reciprocable member in one direction; a control member movable transversely of the reciprocable member; a movable striker; a timer mechanism for suddenly moving said striker from a retracted position to a forward position; a lost motion connection between the control member and the striker; resilient means carried by the striker for urging said control member toward a limiting engaging position with respect to said striker; first and second latch elements carried by the control member and the reciprocable member respectively; said first latch element, when said striker is in said retracted position, and said control member in said limiting position being in the path of movement of said second latch element; said latch elements having engageable cam means operable upon movement of said reciprocable member in the other direction and when said striker is in said retracted position to move said first latch element out of the path of movement of said second latch element against the force of said resilient means to permit said latch elements to be engaged; said resilient means urging said first latch element into latching relationship with said second latch element.

3. ln a device of the character described: a reciprocable member to be controlled; means yieldingly urging said reciprocable member in one direction; a control member movable transversely of the reciprocable member; a movable striker; a timer mechanism for suddenly moving said striker from a retracted position to a forward position; a lost motion connection between the control member and the striker; resilient means carried by the striker for urging said control member toward a limiting engaging position with respect to said striker; first and second latch elements carried by the control member and the recprocable member respectively; said first latch element, when said striker is in said retracted position, and said control member in said limiting position being in the path of movement of said second latch element; said latch elements having engageable cam means operable upon movement of said reciprocable member in the other direction and when said striker is in said retracted position to move said first latch element out of the path of movement of said second latch element against the force of said resilient means to permit said latch elements to be engaged; said resilient means urging said first latch element into latching relationship with said second latch element; said latch elements, when engaged, and when said striker is in said retracted position, preventing movement of said control member to said limiting engaging position.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

